Caroline Miller
Caroline Miller was an American author born on August 26, 1903, in Waycross, Georgia. Initially drawn to drama, she transitioned to writing and gained recognition for her novel *Lamb in His Bosom*, published in 1933, which won both the Pulitzer Prize and the French Prix Femina Americaine. This novel is celebrated for its depiction of antebellum Georgia and the lives of its inhabitants, drawing on Miller's ancestral experiences to create a rich narrative filled with regional dialect and authentic portrayals. She followed up with a second novel, *Lebanon*, in 1944, which continued her exploration of Southern themes but did not achieve the same acclaim. Despite her early success, Miller’s prominence diminished over time, and she passed away in relative obscurity in 1992. Her contributions are often associated with the Southern literary renaissance, a movement that emphasized historical realism and regional narratives. Though she played a role in this literary period, Miller's limited body of work and the decline in popularity of regional realism have led to her being regarded as a minor figure in the American literary canon.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Caroline Miller
Writer
- Born: August 26, 1903
- Birthplace: Waycross, Georgia
- Died: July 12, 1992
- Place of death: Waynesville, North Carolina
Biography
Caroline Miller, daughter of Elias and Levy Pafford, was born in Waycross, Georgia, on August 26, 1903. Attracted to drama as a child, she appeared in amateur schoolhouse productions. Anticipating a career on the stage, her family was surprised by her success as an author.
The summer she graduated from high school, Caroline Pafford married her English teacher, William Miller, with whom she had three sons. In 1928, the Millers moved to Baxley, Georgia, where William accepted a position as superintendent of schools. The couple divorced in 1936. In 1937, Miller wed florist Clyde Ray, an enduring union which produced two children.
During the Great Depression, while other neighborhood housewives sold eggs to see their families through difficult times, Miller sold short stories. The income she gained from magazine publications, though modest, added to her husband’s salary. Her novel, Lamb in His Bosom (1933), an extension of a short story, was a critical and popular success. Though a second novel, Lebanon, would follow in 1944, Miller wrote little and faded from readership in subsequent decades. She died an obscure author in 1992.
The years between the two World Wars witnessed a renaissance in Southern literature, to which Miller contributed. Lamb in His Bosom and Lebanon both impart historically accurate depictions of antebellum Georgia, its landscape, people, and customs. Miller drew upon her ancestors’ accounts of austerity in the Georgian swamps to recreate a testimony to their endurance. Records of lived experiences, primarily courtships, marriages, births, and deaths, punctuate the generational Lamb in His Bosom. Critics appreciated Miller’s use of regional dialect and refreshing presentation of white characters who were no longer the stereotypical wealthy landowners or cracker trash. However, the critics also noted structural weaknesses in her story line. The heroine, Cean Carver Smith O’Connor, narrates her experiences as pioneer daughter, wife, and mother, taking readers on a journey from childhood through two marriages to old age. Lebanon continued the traditions of Miller’s first novel, but blended history with romance. This second novel features a young woman in the Georgian backwoods who charms, but cannot claim, a visiting city man. The social and cultural disparity of their backgrounds cannot be breached. With a substitute groom she enters an unhappy union, succeeded by a second and more content marriage, perhaps echoing Miller’s own life story.
In 1934, Lamb in His Bosom was awarded both the Pulitzer Prize and the French Prix Femina Americaine. News of this double success captured the attention of a New York agent who headed south to locate other regional talent. In this manner was Georgian Margaret Mitchell discovered. Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, also a Pulitzer winner, remains an icon of American letters, while Miller’s contribution has faded.
A member of the Southern literary renaissance, Miller is noted for her historical realism, a style in vogue in the 1920’s and 1930’s and popularized by writers who reveal universal truths through regional narratives. Partly because her body of work is limited to two novels and a number of short stories, and partly because regional realism is no longer fashionable, Miller, despite her Pulitzer Prize, ranks only as a minor writer in the American canon.